The present invention is directed to an intaglio printer having a form cylinder and a printing cylinder. A screen cylinder is used to transfer ink to the form cylinder. A collecting cylinder can be associated with the form cylinder.
EP 03 43 106 A2 has disclosed a printer with an engraved intaglio printing plate, which is disposed on a form cylinder. A printing cylinder, in which the engraved intaglio printing plate can be simultaneously used as a wet offset printing plate for an additional offset printing unit is also provided.
A printer with an intaglio printing unit that has a form cylinder and a printing cylinder is also known from EP 03 51 366 B1. In this printer, the intaglio printing unit is combined with an indirectly functioning printer unit from which sheets printed by it are fed with the aid of an interposed sheet-feeding apparatus.
Printers of this kind permit superimposed printing with various techniques on the same print stock with a high degree of register preservation. They are therefore preferred for the printing of documents that require a high degree of counterfeit prevention such as banknotes, securities, identification documents, etc.
EP 08 64 421 A1 describes a printer with ink application devices that can be replaced for different printing processes.
EP 05 63 007 A1 discloses an intaglio printer whose plate cylinder has an additional screen printing cylinder disposed against it. This is in addition to the master or pattern cylinder that is disposed against the cylinder.
DE 197 46 268 A1 discloses the application of lacquers of different viscosities by the use of different printing processes.
GB 511 049 A describes a printer in which an engraved plate cylinder is associated with screen printing cylinders.
The object of the present invention is to produce an intaglio printer.
The object is attained according to the present invention by the provision of an intaglio printer with a form cylinder and a printing cylinder. At least one screen printing cylinder transfers ink to the form cylinder. A collecting cylinder may be associated with the form cylinder. At least one screen printing cylinder is associated with the collecting cylinder.
The advantages that can be achieved with the present invention are comprised particularly in the fact that the present invention permits tactilely discernible features to be printed in a simple fashion and with a high degree of register preservation in relation to other printing motifs. The affixing of such tactilely discernible motifs is particularly desirable in monetary bills in order to also permit visually impaired people to be able to reliably recognize banknotes and to differentiate between their various denominations.
The printing plate of the form cylinder of such a machine preferably has recesses, which can be not only recesses for containing printing ink, but can also have screen printing ink which can be intentionally introduced into such recesses in order to then print with a profile that corresponds to the form of the recess.
The intaglio printing process performed using the printer in accordance with the present invention is preferably a collecting printing process. There is a collecting cylinder to which different printing inks to be printed are respectively applied one after the other, preferably with the aid of master or pattern cylinders, and the entire intaglio printed motif thus produced is transferred to the print stock in a single passage of the print stock through the printing nip.
In a first preferred embodiment of the present invention, a screen printing cylinder is disposed against the form cylinder. In terms of the production direction, the screen printing cylinder can be disposed after a wiping device, which is intrinsically known for intaglio printing, so that the screen printing process occurs essentially uninfluenced by the intaglio printing. The screen printing cylinder, however, can also be disposed against the form cylinder before such a wiping device so that the screen printing ink is wiped in the same way as the printing ink.
In a second preferred embodiment of the present invention, the screen printing cylinder is disposed against the collecting cylinder and applies the screen printing ink to it first.